Remotely controlled rotary input signal means

ABSTRACT

A REMOTELY CONTROLLED ROTARY INPUT SIGNAL MEANS COMPRISING A REGULAR POLYGON MOUNTED FOR ROTATION AND A SELECTIVELY CONTOURED CAM MEMBER TRANSLATABLE IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE POLYGON AND CONTOURED SO AS TO LOCK THE POLYGON IN NEUTRAL POSITION WHEN CENTERED AND SO AS TO CAUSE THE POLYGON, AND THE SHAFT ATTACHED TO THE POLYGON, TO ROTATE TWO INCREMENTS IN ONE DIRECTION AS THE CAM MEMBER IS MOVED LEFTWARDLY AND THEN BACK TO CENTER, OR TO CAUSE THE POLYGON TO ROTATE TWO INCREMENTS IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION AS THE CAM MEMBER IS TRANSLATED RIGHTWARDLY AND THEN BACK TO CENTER.

NOV. 9, 1971 A F AMELlO 3,618,407

REMOTELY CONTROLLED ROTARY INPUT SIGNAL MEANS original Filed sept.`23, 196s 4 sheets-sheet 1 n j gl" u K- Y l Nov. 9, 1971 A F, AMEL@ 3,618,407

REMOTELY CONTROLLED ROTARY INPUT SIGNAL MEANS Original Filed Sept. 23, 1968 4 Shoots-Sheet Z A. F. AMELIO 3,618,407

REMOTELY CONTROLLED ROTARY INPUT SIGNAL MEANS Nov. 9, 1971 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Sept. 23, 1968 FIG- Flam

NHHHHH Nov. 9, 1971 A, F AMEL@ 3,618,407

REMOTELY CONTROLLED ROTARY INPUT SIGNAL MEANS Original Filed Sept. 25, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG I United States Patent Oice 3,618,407 REMOTELY CONTROLLED ROTARY INPUT SIGNAL MEANS Armand F. Amelio, Yonkers, N.Y., assignor to United Aircraft Corporation, East Hartford, Conn. Original application Sept. 23, 1968, Ser. No. 761,644, now Patent No. 3,521,448, dated .luly 21, 1970. Divided and this application Nov. 6, 1969, Ser. No. 871,245 Int. Cl. F16h 27/02 lU.S. Cl. 74-88 13 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A remotely controlled rotary input signal means comprising a regular polygon mounted for rotation and a selectivelv contoured cam member translatable in opposite directions with respect to the polygon and contoured so as to lock the polygon in neutral position when centered and so as to cause the polygon, and the shaft attached to the polygon, to rotate two increments in one direction as the cam member is moved leftwardly and then back to center, or to cause the polygon to rotate two increments in the opposite direction as the cam member is translated rightwardly and then back to center.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 761,644 tiled on Sept. 23, 1968 for improvements in Remotely Controlled Rotary Input Signal Means, by Armand F. Amelio, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,521,448.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of invention This invention relates to apparatus for introducing from remote locations very accurate rotational inputs into a mechanism and more particularly to remotely introducing rotary trim control signal corrections to the fuel control of an aircraft jet engine by means of a pilot or other crew member operated pull-push lever or button located at a point remote from the fuel control.

Description of the prior art Many aircraft, such as helicopters, employe turboshaft engines which have both a gas generator turbine and a free power turbine. Both turbines rotate in the same direction but not necessarily at the same speed, since the two turbines are not mechanically coupled to each other. The free power turbine drives the helicopter rotor or aircraft propeller to cause the helicopter rotor to rotate at the desired constant speed. The pilot introduces the desired power turbine speed setting through the engine speed control lever and a governor is provided to establish the gas generator speed at a level necessary to maintain the selected speed of the power turbine so that the helicopter rotor is driven at the desired speed. Since the gas generator speed is primarily dependent upon fuel, and is monitored by the engine fuel control, means for adjusting the engine fuel control must be provided to compensate for varying atmospheric conditions if maximum engine performance is to be attained and maintained. Rotation of an idle trim shaft and a military trim shaft for each engine provide the required control trim capability on the ground and in ight, respectively, so as to produce optimum engine performance. This is known as engine trimming.

In many aircraft and helicopter installations, the engine fuel control is a substantial distance from the pilot and therefore the trim adjustment must be made from a remote location. At the present time, remote trimming capa- 3,618,407 Patented Nov. 9, 1971 hysteresis.

While the exible cable remote rotary input control system is light in weight and simple in operation, it is not sufliciently accurate an input system for engine trim control.

Unfortunately, any known type of suticiently accurate system is complicated, heavy and expensive. For example, a series of rigid, torque tubes which are flexibly connected could be used to accomplish this purpose, but such a system would be excessively heavy and mechanically complicated. An electrical drive system, such as selsyn units could be used but any type of electric actuator, some of which would include solenoids, would be expensive and hard to maintain.

A power topping trim adjustment for the engine has to be made while the engine is delivering maximum power because the adjustment varies with atmospheric conditions such as temperature, altitude, etc. This trimming adjustment is made to permit the pilot to obtain maximum power from his engine taking intoconsideration the operating `conditions involved. It is necessary, due to the nature of aircraft jet and turboshaft engines and their fuel controls, that this topping adjustment be a very accurate adjustment and it is desirable that it be capable of being made remotely, preferably by the pilot or other crew member while in flight. If it were not for the pilot remote control capability of the system taught herein, the trimming adjustment would have to be done on a trial and error basis with the adjustment made while on the ground and then testing the engine in flight to determine whether or not the adjustment had been correct.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION lA primary object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism to produce a highly accurate rotary input of selected increment of control and selected direction of rotation and to be operable from a remote location by a translatory motion, preferably a push-pull motion.

In accordance with the present invention, the increment of control, that is, the number of degrees or minutes of rotary input to be produced, will be controlled by a highly accurate gear chain system through which the rotary input is introduced to the control or governor.

In accordance With a further aspect of the present invention, such a highly accurate rotary input can be made by a push-pull motion at a remote location from the control, and wherein the direction of rotation of the input is governed by the direction of translation of the push-pull handle member so that no switch or lever need be thrown or actuated to accomplish change of direction of the rotary input.

In accordance with still a further aspect of the present invention, a topping adjustment for the engine of an aircraft can be made in a highly accurate fashion from a remote location.

In accordance with the present invention, a regular polygon, such as a triangle, is mounted for rotation and a selectively contoured cam member is caused to translate along a straight line axis in spaced relation thereto and this cam member includes an elevated flat surface shaped to abut the sides of the polygon to lock the polygon in a neutral position and further includes elevated angular surfaces on oppositesides and spaced from the flat surface so that as the cam member is translated either leftwardly or rightwardly from the polygon, the polygon will first contact and come into alignment with one of the angular surfaces and, upon return of the cam member to its original centered position, the polygon will be rotated a second increment in the same direction in coming into abutting relation with the flat member again and so that a two increment rotary motion is imparted to the polygon. Had the cam -been reciprocated in the opposite direction, the polygon would have been rotated in the opposite direction. Accordingly, the direction of the rotary input signal is determined by the direction in which the push-pull lever is moved and the amount of rotary motion achieved is governed by the number of times the push-pull mechanism is actuated.

It is an important aspect of this invention to teach a control system wherein a very insensitive and sloppy input initiation lmotion results in a constant and precise, incremental motion output signal.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the specification and claims and from the accompanying drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional schematic showing of a turboshaft engine driving a helicopter rotor and being controlled by a fuel control which includes the trim adjustment mechanism taught herein.

4FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional showing through the remotely controlled rotary input portion of the trim governor.

FIG. 3 shows the reduction gear connection between the rotary input mechanism and the fuel control.

FIGS. 4-12 show the remotely controlled rotary input mechanism in various positions of operation to permit a thorough idescription thereof.

FIG. 13 shows the geometry of the cam and polygon members in greater particularity to illustrate the angle of incidence between the translating cam member and the rotating output member.

FIG. 14 graphically illustrates the range of this angle of incidence as the number of sides of the regular polygon changes.

FIGS. l-l7 illustrate the operation of this invention utilizing a two-lobed polygon.

FIG. 18 is a showing of a lock and cover which is used with this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Yiewing FIG. 1 we see aircraft turboshaft engine 10 which includes an air inlet section 12, a compressor section 14, a combustion section 16, and a turbine section 18, 'all of which are positioned in series relation within engine housing 20, which is preferably of circular crosssection. Turbine section 18 includes free power turbine 22 which is connected through shaft 24 and appropriate reduction gearing 26 to helicopter rotor 30 or to an aircraft propeller (not shown). Gas generator turbine 32 is connected through shaft 34 to compressor rotor or oas generator 36 and drives that compressor so as to ccmpress the air entering engine through inlet 12. This compresed alr from compressor section 14 is then heated 1n combustion chamber section 16 and has energy extracted therefrom in passing through turbine section 18 before discharge to atmosphere for jet thrust generation through exhaust outlet 40, which may include a variable area exhaust nozzle, not shown.

Shaft 34 also drives engine -fuel pump 42 and engine lube pump 44 through appropriate gearing in accessory section 46. Engine fuel control 48 works through appropriate gearing. in accesory section 46 to control the amount of fuel bemg pumped from fuel pump 42 into engine 10 to thereby govern the speed of turbine sections 32 and 22 and therefore govern the speed of helicopter rotor 30.

The operating characteristics of engine 10 vary with changes in atmosphereic condition and from engine-toengine so that a trim control 50 must be provided to permit the pilot or other crew member to impart trim. or topping adjustments to fuel control 48 so as to provide the optimum fuel flow to engine 10 for the various engine operating conditions, and to permit adjustment of th1s trim control 50 from some remote location. This trim control adjustment must be made while the engine is delivering rated power, usually flight or near flight cond1t1on, and therefore remote control thereof is necessary. If the remote control capability did not exist, it would be necessary to guess at the proper trim control, make such adjustment, and ight test the engine to determine whether or not optimum engine performance had been achieved by this adjustment and, if not, land again to readjust on a hitand-miss basis.

Engine 10 and its relation and connection to helicopter rotor 30 may be as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,979,968, while fuel control 48 may be of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,822,666.

Viewing FIGS. 2 and 3 we see engine fuel control 48 and its relation and connection to engine topping or trim control 50 in a fashion to be described immediately hereinafter. Output shafts 52 and 54 are caused to rotate by trim governor 50 and to act through highly accurate reduction gear systems 56 and 58 to cause idle trim shaft 60 and military trim shaft 62 to introduce rotary trim corrections into fuel control unit 48.

As best shown in FIG. 3, it rmay be desirable to place conventional counters 66 and 68 on shafts 54 and 52, respectively, to determine the number of rotary increments which have been imparted to the governor or fuel control 48 from the topping governor 50 and these counters may be of the type sold by the Veeder Root Company of Hartford, Conn. In practice, the pilot might nd it desirable to merely actuate the topping device until the engine RPM, as indicated by the engine output gage, shows the correct output for a given load.

In addition, to insure that excessive rotary motion in one direction is not imparted to fuel control 48, torque clutches 70 and 72 may be placed in shafting 54 and 52, respectively, so that inputs from topping governor 50 to fuel control 48 do not occur when the torque for transmission thereof exceeds a preselected amount, which is an indication that the end of travel has been reached in the fuel control system.

Now referring to FIG. 2 we see a trim input mechanism or control 50 contained within housing 80 which is divided by a central partition 82 which divides housing into first and second compartments 84 and 86. Regular polygon shaped members, such as equilateral triangle members 88 and 90, are mounted on partition 82 for rotation about pivot pins or axes 92 and 94, respectively. Selectively contoured cam members 96 and 98 are mounted for translation and reciprocation within longitudinal chambers 84 and 86, respectively, and translate along straight line axes 100 and 102 which are spaced from rotational axes 92 and 94 of polygon members 88 and 90. Input cam member 96 and its coacting regular polygon member will be described in full particularity and it should be borne in mind that input cam member 98 and its coacting regular polygon member 88 are identical therewith and that while regular polygon member 90 drives output shaft 54 and hence military trim shaft 62 through reduction gear system 58 output polygon 88 drives idle trim shaft 60 through output shaft 52 and reduction gear system 56.

Input member 96 and output member 90 are shown in greater particularity in FIG. 4. Translatable and reciprocatable input member 96 is a contoured cam member which includes a main body portion 110 with an elevated portion 111 projecting therefrom and having a at surface 112 extending substantially parallel to the axis of translation thereof, and spaced a selective distance d1 from polygon axis 94 and including side surfaces 114 and 116, which are substantially perpendicular to the flat surface 112. Spaced to the right along axis 100 from elevated flat surface I112 is elevated angular portion 119, which includes flat surface 120, which projects closer to axis 94 that flat surface 112 so as to be spaced distance d2 therefrom when in alignment therewith, so that elevated angular portion 119 and elevated angular surface 118 project farther from main body 110 of selective input cam member 96 than does flat surface 112. It should be noted that angular surface 118 forms an acute angle with the surface of polygon 90 which is in alignment with surface 112, so as to selectively control the rotation of polygon member 90 in the desired direction when contact is made therebetween. Cam member 96 also includes a second elevated angular portion 121 spaced along axis 100 on the opposite side of central elevated portion 111 thereof from the first elevated angular portion 120 thereof. Flat surface 122 of portion 121 is preferably in alignment with fiat surface 120 of portion 119. Angular surface 124 of elevated portion 121 is at an opposed angle to angular surface 118 of elevated portion 119 and preferably forms substantially the same acute angle with respect to at surface 112 as does surface 118 so as to selectively control the direction of rotation of polygon member 90 when the polygon member comes in contact therewith.

While not necessarily so limited, regular polygon member 90 is shown as and will be described as an equilateral triangle with equal side faces 130, 132, and 134 defining equal included or vertex angles 136, 138 and 140 therebetween. The distance measured by the perpendicular from axis 94, which is at the geometric center or centroid of polygon 90, to any of the sides of member 90 is distance d3 and it will be noted that distance d3 is substantially the same as distance d1 so that when flat surface 112 of cam member 96 is in abutting relation with any of the sides 130-134 of polygon member 90, the polygon member is locked in a neutral position. It will also be noted that distance d4 between axis 94 and the vortex of any of the included a-ngles 136-140 is a greater distance than distances d1 and d3. This relationship is necessary to insure, that as described hereniafter, polygon 90 will be intercepted by the side surfaces 114 and 116 of cam portion 110 whenever polygon 90 is out of orientation with its FIG. 4 neutral position and cam member 96 translates thereby.

The operation and coaction between cam member 96 and polygon 90 will now be described to illustrate how by a push-pull, reciprocal motion of cam member 96, polygon member 90 can be caused to rotate incremetnally and selectively in either direction and FIGS. 4-12 will be described n this connection. As previously stated, in the position shown in FIG. 4, polygon 90 is locked in position since side surface 130 thereof is abuting surface 112 of cam member 96. Accordingly, with polygon 90 in this position, no trim input is being or can be imparted to fuel control 48 because the polygon is locked in position. If the pilot should want to introduce a clockwise rotary input into fuel control 48 through trim governor 50, he 'would first push link member or system 154 which, as best shown in FIG. 2, is connected to cam member 96 so as to cause the cam member to translate along axis 100. Link member 154 includes a button-type handle 156 for the pilot to grip and extends remotely from control 50 any desired distance. As best shown in FIG. 5, this push motion of link 154 causes cam member 96 to translate to the left and brings camming surface 118 into contact with included or vertex angle 140 of polygon 90, which is still oriented in its FIG. 4 position. In view of the fact that an acute angle 150 is formed between camming surface 118 and polygon side 130 (which is parallel to flat surface 112), polygon 90 will be caused to rotate in a clockwise direction by the further leftward movement of cam member 96 until, as best shown in FIG. 6, side surface 130 of polygon 90 contacts camming surface 1v1-8 whereupon polygon 90 is in a first oriented position having rotated a first increment in a clockwise direction from its original FIG. 4 position. As more fully explained hereinafter, angle 150 should be less than 180 divided by the number of sides of polygon 90.

With polygon in its FIG. 6 position, camming surface 118 serves to lock polygon 90 in position. If the pilot wishes to cause polygon 90 to rotate in the same clockwise direction a second increment, he will then pull upon rod 154 to cause cam member 96 to move rightwardly until eventually, as best shown in FIG. 7, and with polygon 90 still oriented in its FIG. 6 position surface 134 of polygon 90 contacts side surface 114i of raised portion .111 so that further rightward motion of member 96 -will cause polygon 90 to rotate in a clockwise direction a second increment of rotation until surface 134 thereof is in abutting relation with flat surface 1112, as best shown in FIG. 8, so that polygon 90 is now in a newly oriented position and locked in position by flat surface 112, having rotated two increments in a clockwise direction.

If when polygon was in its original FIG. 4 neutral position the pilot had wanted to introduce one or two counterclockwise input trimming motions to the fuel control 48, he would have first utilized button 156 to pull link 154 and hence cam member 96 rightwardly until, as best shown in IFIG. 9, and with polygon `90 still oriented in its FIG. 4 position, polygon 90 contacts elevated, angular, camming surface y124, and due to to acute angle 152 formed between camming surface 124 and polygon surface 130, further rightward movement of cam member 96 will cause polygon member 90 to rotate a first increment in a counterclockwise direction until it reaches the oriented position shown in FIG. 10 wherein surface 130 abuts camming surface 124. In the FIG. 10 position, polygon 90 is locked in position by camming surface 124. If the pilot wants the polygon 90 to rotate a second controlled increment in a counterclockwise direction, he pushes button 156 of link 154 to cause camming member 96 to move in a leftward direction until, as best shown in FIG. l1, and with polygon 90 still oriented in its FIG. 10 position, surface .132 thereof contacts side surface 116 of cam member 96 so that further leftward motion of cam member 96 will cause polygon 90 to rotate a second increment in a counterclockwise direction until side 132 of polygon 90 abuts -flat surface 112 of cam member 96 as shown in FIG. 12.

It will accordingly be seen that the pilot was able to remotely cause polygon l90 to take two incremental turns of clockwise direction by first pushing and then pulling link system 154 to cause the polygon `90 to first rotate to the first oriented position shown in FIG. 6 and then rotate in the same clockwise direction to the second oriented position shown in FIG. 8. lf the pilot had wanted to impart a counterclockwise correction to the fuel control 48, he would have first pulled link system 154 to first rotate polygon 90 a first increment in a counterclockwise direction to its third oriented position shown in FIG. 10 and then pulled link system 154 to rotate polygon 90 a second increment in a counterclockwise direction to assume its fourth oriented position shown in FIG. 12.

It will be appreciated that if the pilot had imparted a pull-push motion to link 1-54 with polygon 90 in its FIG. 8 position, polygon 90 would return to its FIG. 4 position.

iIt will further accordingly be seen that the pilot can determine what direction of rotary input correction he is going to make to control 48 by controlling the direction in which he translates cam member 96 through link system 154 and he can control the total amount of rotary input to control 48 by the number of times he goes through the push-pull or pull-push input motion in the selected direction.

As best shown in FIG. 2, it is preferable to place some sort of a noting system such as 153 adjacent button 156, link systems 1'54 to indicate what direction of motion is going to produce a counterclockwise rotation and what direction of motion is going to produce a clockwise rotation. As shown in FIG. 2, starting from a FIG. 4 neutral position, a push-pull motion to link system 154 produces a two-increment clock-wise rotation to output polygon 90, while a pull-push motion to link system .154 will produce a two increment counterclockwise rotation to output polygon 90.

It will be noted that if the first and second increments of rotation of polygon 90 are to be substantially equal for each push-pull or pull-push motion of link system 154 when polygon 90 is an equilateral triangle, that cam surfaces 120 and 124 should form an angle of 60 with surface 112 or cam axis 100. Further, the total amount of rotation generated by a push-pull or pull-push motion of link system 154 will be 360/11 wherein n is the number of sides of the polygon.

As embodied in the invention, the term regular polygon should not be interpreted in its strictest geometric sense but should be inclusive of any rotatable member which incorporates two or more points or lobes equidistant from that members geometric center and which can coact with at least one camming member to provide incremental rotation of the rotatable member about an axis of rotation which coincides with its geometric center. Nevertheless, showing the rotatable member as a regular polygon makes it possible to illustrate a generalized relationship inherent in the regular polygon/camming member arrangement already described in detail.

Referring to FIG. 13 camming surface 118 is depicted at the instant of initial contact with regular polygon 90 shown in its centered or neutral position. As shown, further translation of camming member 96 from right to left tends to rotate regular polygon 90 clockwise until surface 130 aligns itself with surface 118 to complete the first portion of the input motion already described. It can be shown that the angle of incidence between surfaces 118 and 130 at the instant of initial center must fall within a range whose lower limit is in all cases equal to 0 and whose upper limit is dependent upon the number of sides n of the polygon employed as defined by the expression 6max=180/11.

Referring to FIG. 14 the above-stated relationship can be shown graphically. As shown an equilateral traingle, or its equivalent polygon, where 11-3 has a range of 0 equal to 0-60, with the range approaching zero asymptotically as in n approaches infinity.

Thus, selecting a total increment of rotation through which the regular polygon is to be rotated by a complete push-pull motion determined the value of lz whereupon 0 is selected from the available range.

It should be apparent lfrom FIGS. 13 and 14 that for all values of n the proposed system is wholly inoperative when 0:0 since surfaces 118 and 130 are then parallel to one another, and exhibit only a 50% chance of operating in the desired direction when 0:0mx since surface 118 is then disposed symmetrically with respect to surfaces 130 and 132. Moreover, if the sides of the regular polygon employed together define sharp vertices as depicted in FIG. 13 there is a tendency for the intersection of surfaces 130 and 132 to penetrate surface 118 rather than slide as desired. Thus out of practical considerations it is desirable that 0 assume a value somewhat less than 0max and that the vertices be somewhat rounded in shape.

While the regular polygon member have been illustrated as a equilateral triangle in FIGS 2-12, as stated above the rotary members could well be of different shape. To illustrate the operation of a two-lobed polygon reference is hereby made to FIGS. 15, 16, and 17. Referring to FIG. 15 we see reciprocal cam member 96 to be substantially of the shape of the corresponding element described in connection with FIGS. 2-12 but it will be noted that polygon 90 is a two-lobed member mounted to be pivotable about axis 94' and including one side surface 200, which is shown in FIG. l5 in abutting relation with fiat surface 112', a second side surface 202 and end surface 204 and 206.

Cam member 96' is shown in its neutral position in FIG. 15 wherein it locks regular polygon 90 in position with surface 200 and 112 abutting. If the pilot wants to cause two incremental clockwise rotations to polygon 90', he should first push cam member 96 leftwardly until surface 118 contacted the included angle between end surface 204 and side surface 200 of polygon 90 so that further leftward motion of cam member 96 would cause polygon 90' to rotate in a clockiwse direction a first increment to its FIG. 16 position wherein surface 200 and 118 abut. To cause polygon 90 to rotate a second increment in a clockwise direction, the pilot would then move cam member 96 rightwardly, with polygon 90 remaining oriented in its FIG. 16 position, until the included angle between surface 206 and 202 of polygon 90 abuts side surface 114 of cam member 96' and so that further rightward motion of cam mamber 96 will cause polygon 90 to rotate a second increment in a clockwise direction to its FIG. 17 position wherein surface 202 and 112 abut.

lt will be obvious that if the pilot desired to introduce two counterclockwise, incremental motions into polygon 90', he would first have to move cam member 96" rightwardly and then leftwardly.

As best shown in FIG. 18 it might be desirable to pivotally attach a cover and lock 210 to trim control housing at pivot connection 212. Cover and lock includes detent 214, which is shaped to receive knob 156 of linkage system 154 and which cover can only be closed when knob 156 is in its neutral position wherein detent 214 of cover 210 serves to lock linkage system 154 in this neutral position, as in FIG. 4.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

1. Remotely controllable means for imparting selective rotary input control motion including:

(l) a regular polygon mounted for rotation,

(2) a selectively contoured cam member mounted for translation with respect to said polygon member and including:

(a) a fiat elevated surface positioned to abut any of the sides of the polygon member to retain the polygon member in a neutral position when in such abutting relation,

(b) an elevated angular surface spaced from said fiat surface and shaped and adapted to coact with said flat surface so that as said contoured member is translated from a neutral position wherein said flat surface is retaining said polygon member in a locked position, said polygon member will contact said angular surface and be rotated thereby in a first rotary direction into a first oriented position in alignment therewith and further, so that when, as said contoured member is translated in the opposite direction while said polygon member is in said first oriented position, said polygon member will engage and be further rotated in said first direction into a second oriented position in alignment with said fiat surface, whereupon said polygon member has been rotated a selected amount in said first direction and is again in a neutral or locked position with respect to said contoured member,

(3) means remotely positioned from said contoured member to cause said contoured member to translate.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 and including:

(l) means connected to said polygon for rotation therewith and including:

(a) a reduction gear mechanism with input and output and which input is the rotary motion of said polygon and which output is a rotary motion due to the action of the reduction gear mechanism.

3. Apparatus according to clai-m 2 and including a counter connected to said rotating means to determine the number of times said rotating means has been moved in rotary motion.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 and including a torque clutch connected to said rotating means to prevent transmission through said rotating means of the motion of said polygon member when the rotary drive force exceeds a predetermined torque.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said angular surface defines an angle with respect to said fiat surface which is less than 180 divided by the number of sides of the polygon.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said remote means is a manually operated push-pull linkage system connected to said cam member and further including indicator means associated with said push-pull remote actuator means to indicate the direction of rotation of said polygon member which Will be achieved by a push-pull and a pull-push motion of said remotely actuated linkage mechanism.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said regular polygon is two-lobed.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 and including means to lock said cam member translating means in said neutral position.

9. Remotely controllable means for imparting selective rotary input control motion including:

(1) a regular polygon mounted for rotation,

(2) a selectively contoured cam member mounted for translation with respect to said polygon member and including:

(a) a fiat elevated surface positioned to abut any of the sides of the polygon member to retain the polygon member in a neutral position, when in such abutting relation,

(b) a first elevated angular surface spaced from said fiat surface and shaped and adapted to coact with said fiat surface so that as said contoured member is translated in a first direction from a neutral position wherein said fiat surface is retaining said polygon member in a locked position, said polygon member will contact said first angular surface and be rotated thereby in a first rotary direction into a first oriented position in alignment therewith and, further, so that when said contoured member is translated in a second direction opposite to said first direction while said polygon member is in said first oriented position, said polygon member will engage and be further rotated in said first direction into a second oriented position in alignment with said fiat surface, whereupon said polygon member has been rotated a selected amount in said first direction and is again in a neutral or locked position with respect to said contoured member,

(c) a second elevated angular surface spaced on the opposite side of fiat surface from said first angular surface and shaped and adapted to coact with said fiat surface so that as said contoured member is translated in said second direction from a neutral position wherein said fiat surface is retaining said polygon member in a locked position, said polygon member will contact said second angular surface and be rotated thereby in a second rotary direction opposite to said first rotary direction into a third oriented position in alignment therewith and, further, so that when said contoured member is translated in said first direction while in said third oriented position, said polygon member 10 will engage and be yfurther rotated in said second direction into a fourth oriented position in alignment with said fiat surface, whereupon said polygon member has been rotated a selected amount in said second direction and is again in a neutral or locked position with respect to said contoured member,

(3) means remotely positioned from said contoured member to cause said contoured member to translate in said first and said second directions.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9l wherein said angular surfaces each define an angle with respect to said fiat surface which is less than divided by the number of sides of the polygon.

11. A remotely controlled rotary input mechanism which converts translatory motion to rotary motion including:

(l) a regular polygon member including first, second and third adjacent sides defining first and second included angles therebetween,

(2) means mounting said polygon member for rotation about an axis so that a first distance is established by a perpendicular between said axis and said sides and so that a second distance greater than said first distance is established between said axis and the apex of said included angles,

(3) a cam member spaced from said axis and mounted for translation with respect toV said polygon member along a straight line axis offset thereform and including:

(a) a first portion defining an elevated fiat surface parallel to said cam axis and with side surfaces on opposite sides thereof wherein said fiat surface is spaced from said axis substantially said first distance when in alignment therewith so that said cam fiat surface and one of said polygon sides abut to lock said polygon member in a neutral position and,

(b) a second portion defining an elevated angular surface wherein said angular surface is in spaced relation to said fiat surface along the direction of translation thereof and forming an acute angle therewith and projecting closer to said axis when in alignment therewith than said fiat surface so that when said cam member is translated from said neutral position wherein said fiat surface and said first side of said polygon member are in abutting relation, one of I said included angles of said polygon member will contact said angular surface and cause said polygon member to rotate a first increment in a first direction until said polygon member first surface is in abutting relation with said angular surface of said cam member, thereby placing said polygon member in a first oriented position and further so that as said cam member is then translated in the opposite direction the second of said included angles of said polygon member will contact one of said side surfaces of said first portion and cause said polygon member to rotate a second increment in said first direction as said cam member translates further to cause said second side of said polygon member to come into abutting alignment with said fiat surface so that the polygon member is in a second oriented position and is again locked in a neutral position,

(4) means remote from and connected to said cam member to cause said cam member to translate. 12. A remotely controlled rotary input mechanism which converts translatory motion to rotary motion including:

(l) a regular polygon member including first, second and third adjacent sides defining first and second included angles therebetween,

(2) means mounting said polygon member for rotation about an axis so that a first distance is established by a perpendicular between said axis and said sides and so that a second distance greater than said first dlstance is established between said axis and the apex of said included angles,

(3) a cam member spaced from said axis and mounted for translation with respect to said polygon member along a straight line axis offset therefrom and parallel to said cam axis and including:

(a) a first portion defining an elevated flat surface parallel to said cam axis and with first and second side surfaces on opposite sides thereof wherein said fiat surface is spaced from said axis substantially said first distance when in alignment therewith so that said cam fiat surface and one of said polygon sides abut to lock said polygon member in a neutral position and,

(b) a second portion defining a first elevated angular surface wherein said first angular surface is in spaced relation to said flat surface along the direction of translation thereof and forming an acute angle therewith and projecting closer to said axis when in alignment therewith than said fiat surface so that when said cam member is translated in a first direction from said neutral position wherein said flat surface and said first side of said polygon member are in abutting relation, said first included angle of said polygon member will contact said first angular surface and cause said polygon member to rotate a first increment in a first direction until said polygon member first side is in abutting relation with said first angular surface of said cam member, thereby placing said polygon member in a first oriented position and further so that as said cam member is then translated in a second direction opposite to said first direction the second included angle of said polygon member will contact said first side surface of said first portion and cause said polygon member to rotate a second increment in said first direction as said cam member translates further to cause said second side of said polygon member to come into abutting alignment with said fiat surface so that said polygon member is in a second oriented position and again locked in a neutral position,

(c) a third portion defining a second elevated angular surface wherein said second angular surface is in spaced relation to said first surface along the direction of translation thereof and on the opposite side thereof from said first angular surface and forming an acute angle therewith and projecting closer to said axis when in alignment therewith then said fiat surface so that when said cam member is translated in said second direction from said neutral position wherein said flat surface and said first side of said polygon member are in abutting relation, said second included angle of said polygon member will contact said second angular surface and cause said polygon member to rotate a first in- 12 crement in a second direction opposite to said first direction of rotation until said polygon member first side is in abutting relation with said second angular surface of said cam member thereby placing said polygon member in a third oriented position, and further so that as said cam member is then translated in said second direction, said first included angle of said polygon member will contact said second side surface of said first portion and cause said polygon member to rotate a second increment in said second direction as said cam member translates further to cause said third side of said polygon member to come into abutting alignment with said fiat surface so that said polygon member is in a fourth oriented position and again locked in a neutral position,

(4) means remote from and connected to said cam member to cause said cam member to translate in said first and second directions.

13. A device which imparts incremental rotary motion outputs in a selected direction in response to back-andforth linear motion inputs which comprises:

(l) a housing;

(2) an output member of regular polygon shape, rotatable about its geometric center on an axis fixed to the housing;

(3) an input member slidable in a back-and-fourth direction within said housing and having:

(a) a first surface inclined with respect to the slide axis of translation,

(b) a second surface inclined with respect to the slide axis of translation at an opposed angle to said first surface,

(c) a third surface located between and separated from said rst and second surfaces and being parallel with respect to the slide axis of translation and substantially coincident with one s1d e of said output member when in a centered position, so that back-and-forth input motion of sald input member causes said surfaces to coact and rotate said output member through a first .fixed increment during the first portion of the input motion and then rotate said output member through a second fixed increment during the second portion of the input motion, the total increment of rotation being equal to 360/n where n equals the number of sides of the regular polygon.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1960 Huhn 74-129 12/1964 Venables 74-129 U.S. Cl. X.R. 74-129 

